1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for determining the frequency of the current ripple contained in the armature current signal of a commutated direct current (DC) motor.
2. Background Art
The armature current signal of a commutated DC motor includes a direct component and a ripple component superimposed on the direct component. The ripple component arises when the motor is operated as a consequence of the interaction of the magnet (field), the armature winding, and the commutator of the motor. This expresses itself in a transient change in the induced voltage which produces the ripple content in the armature current signal. The current peaks contained in the armature current signal—referred to below as current ripples—occur when the armature of the motor rotates.
The number of current ripples in a full revolution of the armature corresponds to the number of armature collector bars. For example, if the armature has ten collector bars then the armature current signal will have ten current ripples. Thus, the number of counted current ripples is indicative of the actual rotational position of the motor's armature. Consequently, the counted current ripples is indicative of the position an element such as a motor vehicle window being driven by the motor along a predetermined travel segment.
In order to count the current ripples, the analog armature current signal is digitized. The number of current ripples counted in a certain time interval is the current ripple frequency. The current ripple frequency is indicative of the actual rotational speed of the motor.
To make it possible for current ripple detection to be performed with as few errors as possible, the analog armature current signal is conditioned before and possibly after digitization in order to suppress interference. Filtering is done to condition the armature current signal. The filtering may be in the form of low-pass filtering and/or frequency filtering.
For example, DE 195 11 307 C1 describes such a signal conditioning process. The purpose of such signal conditioning processes is to provide a precise armature current signal having minimal interference so that the current ripples contained in this conditioned armature current signal can be evaluated. To determine the position of the driven element, the current ripples in the conditioned armature current signal are counted. The counted result provides direct information regarding the actual rotational position of the drive shaft and the motor's armature. The current ripples contained in the armature current signal are usually counted using minima or maxima determination algorithms, or other algorithms to determine the zero crossings.
The previously known signal conditioning and correction processes can only sufficiently eliminate or minimize interference contained in the armature current signal if the current ripples contained in the armature current signal are distinct in the armature current signal. It is problematic, if not even impossible, to evaluate the current ripples contained in the armature current signal if interference or distortion are superimposed on the current ripples. This is apparent as the current ripple signal can be modeled as an interference signal whose frequency and amplitude change randomly, as a consequence of voltage fluctuations, for example.